


Don't Talk to Strangers

by grumpyprincess07



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 14th Doctor, Cybermen - Freeform, Daleks - Freeform, Friendship, Gen, New Character - Freeform, New Doctor, Susan - Freeform, The Doctor - Freeform, Weeping Angels - Freeform, doctor who - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 15:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16088720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpyprincess07/pseuds/grumpyprincess07
Summary: A quick one-shot I wrote with a new character. Honestly, I always had all these ideas in my head and I'm just now writing it all down. This is just the meeting and the second chapter is the good bye.





	1. Run-In

My mother always warned me to never talk to strangers. If she knew that I was not only speaking to a stranger, but was holding his hand and running away with him! If she knew I had taken this strange man's offer for adventure... Well, I couldn't imagine what she'd do. Nothing good I suppose. She could so something minor, like shake her head or give me a proper scold--that may actually do the trick in scaring me. Or perhaps she could be more drastic, and something I could definitely expect, like locking a twenty-four year old in her room and ground her indefinitely with no chance of parole. Yes, that sounds plausible. But perhaps it would be better to start from the beginning rather than the middle.

.........................................................................................

It was like any other day in Florida's blistering heat. Humid, hot, suffocating. My hair always frizzed if I stepped outside on our violently hot days. But there I was, on one of those scorching days, walking in the heat clad in a pair of blue jeans and a Ravenclaw t-shirt. Needless to say, I was baking faster than a cookie in the oven. Hmmm, bad analogy. I'll rethink that one later... Other girls were in thong-like shorts and spaghetti-strap tank tops. Some of them even had on heels. I couldn't imagine squeezing into anything like that. I was never really comfortable with dressing like that. I wasn't other girls. And I would soon learn why I truly was not. (Wow, add another cliche why don't you?)

I had taken a drive down to South Beach to watch the local color--to get some inspiration. I had hit a bit of a dry spell that took form in writer's block. I should be more honest, my dry spell was more of a drought, probably drier than the Gobi Desert. But I had high hopes that the hustle and bustle of party central would provide me with something good to write about. After a couple of hours sitting under an umbrella at the beach, and having sand make its way up my jeans, and a completely empty journal, I got up to leave. The beach had proven boring. There was nothing spectacular there other than the mysterious sunburn that was now appearing on my ankles. I didn't think any skin had been exposed.

The sun didn't seem exceptionally bright. Its rays didn't span the sky or paint the water below. There were no sparkling diamonds as the waves crashed on the surface. There weren't any interesting or unique people. No Casanova...or was it Casablanca? Either way, whatever it was, there wasn't anything worth writing about.  
So I took to the streets, passing souvenir vendors and more half naked men and women. Closing my journal, I could plainly see that my thirst for inspiration would go unquenched. But then, a flash of a man ran past.

"Terribly sorry!" He called, having run into me and pushing me into the wall of a tattoo parlor. My face twisted into a scowl. What a rude man! What a strange man. Did he have a British accent? A light turned on, and a smile formed on my face. This could be interesting. Now, dear readers, I would like to warn you, that what I am about to do is strongly not recommended. You see, if a stranger is running down the street, he probably has a good reason. He's either running to something, and that something could be dangerous or very personal and private, or running from something, which is almost absolutely guaranteed to be dangerous. But I didn't think about that. I followed him, not running as fast as he was so that he wouldn't notice me and I wouldn't overtake him. Not that I could overtake him as he was surprisingly fast. He was completely and heavily clothed. A pair of black slacks that looked a little like jeans, a deep green polo t-shirt the color of moss, and a large black coat that waved behind him like a superhero's cape. He also wore a bright pair of blue Nikes that didn't match his outfit in the slightest. It was a wonder he hadn't keeled over from the heat. Or perhaps a wonder that he hadn't pulled out an assault rifle, the way he was dressed.

Why I had followed him, when he could have easily turned on me in a second, I didn't know. In just a moment, I could be staring straight into the barrel of a gun. But if I survived a gun in the face, then I could add a new experience for my writing, right? 

He suddenly turned, skipping like a cartoon character before running into an alley on the left. I slowed down and peered inside. The alley seemed suddenly empty, like a scene from a bad, low-production horror movie. And every cell in my brain and every muscle in my body, screamed to walk away. But something in me, an instinct perhaps, bid my feet to move forward. Warily, I had walked into the alley, looking for the only strange man who had peaked my interest that day.  
Without warning, I heard the crash of trash cans and the strange man leapt into view. He pointed something at me and I closed my eyes, jumping in fright.

"Don't shoot!" I shouted.

"Shoot! Why would I shoot?" The voice called. It was deep, low, and masculine. I opened my eyes. It was the weirdest mechanism I had ever seen. It wasn't a gun, that much I was sure of. It looked like an electronic wand with a purple light at the end. He held it at the handle, which looked like a black tube from an air ventilation system. The rest of it was metallic, with prongs holding the small purple light bulb in place.

"What is that?" I peered at it, looking from all sides.

"Screwdriver." He said, nonchalantly, not lowering the gadget.

"What? There is no way that's a screwdriver."

"It is. My sonic screwdriver to be precise. Just remodeled it. Added a red feature." I was confused. I'd never heard of a "sonic screwdriver" and that was unlike any screwdriver I had even seen. And a red feature? This man was talking nonsense. He pressed a switch and the purple light glowed again. There was a mechanic whirring that resonated through the alley.

"Human. That's good. Well not good. Not looking for a human. But here one turns up."

"Come again?"

"Scanner says you're human." He said, as if that was enough of an explanation.

"Of course I'm human. What kind of statement is that?"

"A good one when I'm tracking something not human." He said matter-of-factly. His "screwdriver" lit up again as he waved it at other objects, and then examined the gadget closely.

"Are you looking for an animal?"

"Close. An alien."

"How's that close?" I exclaimed in frustration.

"Both start with an A." He looked at me as if I should have known better.

"Who are you?"

"Oh Sorry!" He stopped waving and turned around at me. He tipped an invisible hat towards me. "The Doctor." He continued waving the screwdriver around.

"Doctor what?" He paused and looked at me.

"Well that's different." He smiled and continued waving.

"Well, what's your name?"

"That is my name. The Doctor. Just the Doctor." I scoffed.

"If you're name is the doctor, then mine is the waiter!"

"Nice to meet you The Waiter." He moved towards a trash bin further ahead.

"I was being sarcastic."

"No, you were being sardonic."

"Oh, what's the difference?"

"How should I know? You're the writer."

"How did you know I was a writer?" Here I thought I had been stalking him, but it may have been the other way around. Perhaps he was the stalker and I just walked into his crazy trap. He looked at me briefly and went back to work.

"You have ink on your hands, and on your cheek, as if you spent a lot of time thinking about what to write. Also, you're holding a journal in your hand, have a pen tucked behind your right ear. And you have the writer's air about you, with the short hair, book earrings, and that Harry Potter t-shirt. Ravenclaw, nice."

"A doctor and Sherlock Holmes!" Gold! I wrote that down in the journal and tucked my pen back behind my ear.

"Not at all. Pure observation. He was a great fellow though."

"You met Sherlock Holmes?" I asked, disbelieving.

"No of course not. He's a fictional character, it'd be impossible. Well not impossible, met Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels once. But that's besides the point. I'm talking about Arthur Conan Doyle. Showed him the fairies. Couldn't believe his eyes!" He rambled on happily. I only stared at him. He was mad!

"Oh, like that's any better? What'd you do, go back in time?" I sneered. He may be mad, but he was awfully amusing.

"Yes. In the T.A.R.D.I.S." He kept waving.

"Tardis?"

"Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. It's my ship." I wrote TARDIS down.

"Wait, ship? What, are you an alien too?"

"Yep." He said it so casually that I was shocked. I was talking to an alien! I must be crazy thinking I was talking to an alien.

"You're an alien tracking another alien?"

"Now you're getting it!"

"Can I help?" I asked after a moment of silence. He may be mad, but as a writer, there's nothing I want more than to believe in things that aren't considered real. Adventure before sanity, I always say. Now...

"Maybe. I'm getting close." He said the last part to himself.

"What is it?"

"Shapeshifter, from the planet Fiexaltane."

"Fiexaltane?" He must have been making this up. It was a ridiculous scenario really. Me thinking I was talking to an alien. I crossed my arms and stared at him with disbelief. This is the type of person my mother always warned me about. The kind who gets you feeling cozy, drop your guard, and next thing you know, he's wearing your skin. Then again, adventure! Oh, the conflict!

"Yep, nastly little buggers, those Fiexaltanians."

"Well, what do they look like?" The words sounded stupid as they came out.

"No such thing as a stupid question," he responded, almost like he was reading my thoughts. "He can look like anything. I'm using the sonic screwdriver to scan for his DNA. Find his DNA, and you can figure out what he looks like."

"So that's what the waving is for?"

"Yes, so be careful. He could be anything. Be careful."

"I get it, I get it. Careful. My name is Zoe, by the way. Not the Waiter"

"Nice to meet you." Normally, I would have walked away by then, thinking the guy was another homeless nut-case. But considering how boring everything was since the morning, and how harmless he really seemed, I planned on sticking around. At least to have something, anything, to write about. I sat down on a stack of crates that had been thrown out, watching him work.

I kept thinking it was too bad he was crazy. He was very handsome. He had wavy, dark red hair that shined whenever the light hit it. His face was masculine and angled. He was tall and thin, but in the wiry-made-to-run kind of thin. He had a freckle or two on his cheeks, and when he thought he had found something, marked by a quick "aha!", his deep brown eyes sparkled.

There was something in his eyes. He looked young, probably in his mid-twenties, but his eyes were so old. They betrayed him, they betrayed his smile. Maybe it was a trick of the mind, but for just a moment, there was a deep sadness in his eyes. In a brief moment, he looked like the loneliest man in the world. I can relate... Who is this guy?

The crates suddenly began to shake. I gripped tightly so I wouldn't fall. And then the crates gripped back! I tugged at my arms, but I couldn't get free. And from under me, the crates morphed into a humanoid figure. Large, brown, paw-like hands gripped me tightly, pinning my arms to my side so that my struggles became pointless.

"Doctor!" I squeaked, breathless. He turned around and ran back to me.

"You found him!" He smiled.

"Help me!" I growled at him.

"Oh right. Excuse me, but could you put my friend down? I can assure you, she doesn't taste good at all." He made a gagging noise.

"Taste? Doctor!" And suddenly, the giant alien bear thing began to lurch, move, and then it broke into a run down the alley. It began to morph again into something smaller and less mammal. The closest thing it looked like was a spider. As it morphed, its grip loosened, for a split second, and I was moved onto its back. One of its legs held me down and the other 9 ran forward. It had two heads, one in the front, and a second at its rear. The second head was spitting a black liquid at whom I could only assume was the Doctor.

"Doctor!" I yelled impatiently.

"I'm coming Zoe!" I heard him call back. I couldn't sit up and I couldn't see the Doctor, So I had no idea how far he was from the Fiexaltanian and I. All I could see was the blue sky. And then a wall, the other wall of the alley to be exact. It was climbing up the alley wall. I felt like I would be sick. I wasn't meant to be man handled. The creature moved faster, and my body stiffened and ached. I had no idea where we were going, or how fast. I stopped struggling and resigned to my fate. Every so often, I could feel the alien climb again, and then it would crawl back down, and at one point, it seemed we were running in circles. Remember what I said about seeing a stranger running? Well, here it was. This is what I get. A stranger running was either running from or towards danger. And I had just found myself in the middle of the worst danger I'd ever been in. We moved for what seemed like forever. 

But we stopped, finally, and all I could see was black. We were in a dark building of some sort, and by the smell, it had been abandoned for some time.  
The leg was removed, and the alien shifted once more, back into the morphed bear creature. It was unbelievably strong and placed me on this web-like netting. The Doctor later corrected me. They weren't actually spider webs, but a Fielaxtanian stomach secretion that it excretes from the mouth. When it leaves their bodies, it hardens and become sticky, and is capable of moving on its own. Worst of all, it begins to digest its captors! The webs wrapped around my wrists and ankles and waist.

The alien shifted to human form. If it hadn't morphed right in front of me, I would never have believed it. I still don't believe it. It looked like a beach goer I had seen earlier in the morning. Any moment now, I would wake up and it would be some fantastic dream that had been induced by too much sun.

"Let me go! You heard the Doctor, I'm not that tasty."

"Silence." It responded. It sounded synthetic and guttural.

"I won't! Let me go." I struggled to break free and I felt a burning on my wrists and ankles, and on my back.

"The more you struggle, the faster you die."

"Doctor! Doctor!"

"Silence female." Its mouth opened wide, wider than humanly possible, like that of a snake. It spit the same strange, reddish-copper webbing into its hand. It was disgusting, and it felt disgusting as the creature placed it over my mouth. I tried to scream, but like struggling, it only made the webs burn like acid. I felt nauseous and sick, like at any moment, I would lose m lunch. The alien walked away, still in the form of a human male. Fear gripped me. I was going to die. What I wouldn't give to be bored in the hot sun on the dirty, litter ridden beach. I stared at my surroundings. It was definitely an abandoned building. There were a few in the South Beach area. Not many. Buildings were always being vacated and then filled by some new business. We must have gone really far from the beach if this thing found an area to nest. There were several other webbings around me. And on the floor at the bottom of some of the webs-puddles of slime? The realization hit me. Not slime... Were those once...people? I felt sick again. I felt more burning around my wrists at that point. Whatever this webbing was doing, it was doing it fast. I looked out towards where the human-but-not-human alien was. It was busy with some sort of machine. It smiled back at me.

"We'll start small. Once I finish these calibrations, and grab a few more humans, my children will be able to walk among you. Give it a couple of weeks, and we'll have another planet to call home!"

I tried struggling again. I had to do something. I couldn't just stay here. This thing was going to try to take over the Earth? What kind of awful sci-fi was this? If I were here now, does that make me the hero of the story who stops the invasion? Or one of the hapless extras in the movie that succumbed to the creature? The burning intensified. I cried against the webbing on my mouth. I wasn't getting out of this on my own. I wondered, would The Doctor catch up? Would he even care about me? He said he was alien after all. Why would he care about someone like me? An ordinary human? 

Suddenly, I heard a whirring noise behind me. I knew that sound; I had heard it before. The webbing loosened and fell. The Doctor caught me in his arms and placed me back on the floor. I'm embarrassed to say, but I had momentarily wished I could have stayed in his arms a little longer. I'm only human. And he was, is, very handsome. And I had thought I was going to die. 

"Shh." He whispered and placed a finger on his lips. He pointed the screwdriver at me.

"That thing--"

"Won't hurt anyone else. In a few minutes, its ship is going right back where it came from."

"How?"

"Sonic screwdriver of course." He presented it, looking all clever.

"Of course."

"Now Zoe, only one thing left to do."

"What?"

"Run!" He took my hand, and we ran. We ran across the room, the alien's roar of rage heard behind us. We ran up the flights of stairs. We ran on the rooftop. We ran down a ladder. And we ran down the street. And the alien had tried to make chase, but the sonic screwdriver could do anything, especially bolting shut doors and exits.

Shielding my eyes from the sun, I watched as the building shook and smoke jumped into the air. As the structure collapsed, a fairly large, rectangular structure shot from the building and into the sky. No one seemed to notice the ship, they were all concentrating on the collapsing building. It made me wonder about what I must have missed before then? My wrists were burning, and I suddenly realized, as were my cheeks and my ankles. I rubbed at them. They were red, raw, and peeling, as if some of my skin had been scraped off. The Doctor noticed this, and lightly grabbed my arms.

"Here, this should help." He smeared a green paste on my ankles and wrists, then zapped them with his screwdriver. They felt better in no time. He then handed some to me. "Put some around your mouth. It'll feel better. Trust me." I did as he asked. He was right. It was like nothing had happened. Strangest thing. Well, not the strangest. I did, in fact, just see an alien spider shapeshifter Fiexeltane. That was probably the strangest thing. I just stared at my wrists though. Then up at the stars. I always thought there was other life out there. But to have it confirmed. Freaky...

"Come on, I want to show you something." He snapped me out of my reverie. His hand was outstretched once more. I took it. He led me up the street.

"How did you do that?"

"Found the ship's control panel. Used the sonic screwdriver to override the lock, bypass the parking brake, and turn on the autopilot."

"Ah, I see. So simple." I smiled at him. He led me towards an another alleyway, my hand still in his.

"I think I've had enough alleys today Doctor."

"Just look." When we reached the end, I saw a large, blue Police Box. What was that doing there?

"Is that... a police box? Don't they only have them in London?"

"Yes and yes, but no. It's the TARDIS."

"Your ship is a police box?"

"It's a cloaking field. Got stuck on that setting, and I kept it ever since. I like it. But go on, step inside." He opened the door, and I did as he instructed. When I entered, I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Well?" He asked. I turned to him, childlike wonder colored my face. I ran outside. There was a solid back, and the box looked about the size of a normal telephone booth.

"It's bigger on the inside!" I exclaimed.

"I love it when they say that."

"You're really an alien."

"Yep. Time Lord. Even got two hearts."

"Really?" I put my hand on both sides of his chest. Two heart beats! This was incredible.

"That tickles." He squirmed under my hands. I am not at all embarrassed to say my hands may have lingered longer than they should have.

"Sorry."

"It's all right."

"If you're an alien, why do you sound British?"

"I can sound Scottish too," And he did. "And German," And he did. "And American," And he did.

"That is incredible! So why British?"

"Why not?" I couldn't help but laugh at his evasion.

"You know, you can come with me." He said, gesturing to the TARDIS.

"Travel, with a complete stranger?"

"I'm not really a stranger anymore. Come on, it'd be great for your writing. See the planets, the stars. I'll even get you a new journal." I hadn't even noticed I'd dropped my journal. But I didn't really care; I was being promised the stars. I had never been promised the stars before.

"I've always wanted to go to Mars." I said, honestly.

"I'll do you one better! How about Mars of 2900? See the Human Empire?"

"It goes forward in time?"

"And back."

"Can we meet Jane Austen?"

"I think we're going to get along splendidly Miss Zoe." He stuck out his hand and I took it.

"I must agree sir." He laughed.

"Welcome aboard the TARDIS!"

That was the end of my meeting the Doctor, and the beginning of my greatest adventure.


	2. Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know.   
> A story without a middle is quite heartbreaking. But here it is. I gave a beginning, now i give the end. I never really had thoughts for the in-betweens when it comes to the Doctor.

My life had been turned upside down. I would never have expected this. Any of this. I was sure that my adventure would be amazing. Filled with nothing but moments of pure ecstasy and wonder. The Doctor showed me new worlds and new people, he gave me a new perspective that would never have come to mind a year and a half ago. He gave me journals and journals and journals full of stories, but he also gave me memories of sorrow. With every beautiful thing I saw in this world, I saw so much death to go with it. I had almost lost my life more than once. I had lost friends on my journey. But none of those was worse than losing the most amazing friend I had ever made in my life. I can still remember the day I said goodbye to The Doctor and had to continue without him.

"Well? Well?" The Doctor's eyes gleamed with excitement and exhilaration. Nothing made him happier than a close call chase. My hair felt singed and I stared at him in disbelief.

"Well what?"

"Wasn't that exciting!?" His face lit up like a child. That would have made it difficult for me to be truthful, but the smell of burning hair and fabric beat out his adorableness.

"Exciting? Exciting! Doctor, that thing tried to kill me! It burnt my hair! I have patches in my shirt. Doctor, you got this for me on Xarlack!"

"I'll get you another. Come on, you had fun."

"It was one of a kind." I mumbled to myself. "It was exciting. Fun's not the word I'd use." 

I tried to appease him. I shook my head and laughed. It wasn't like this was the first time one of his adventures to relax ended up being blown into some huge fiasco. I should know better than to have expected actually enjoying a spa day at the planet's giant hot spring. But, in the Doctor's defense, how could he have known that a trip to the spa would uncover a centuries old cult that was trying to enact an even older prophecy to trigger a super volcano into splitting the planet's core and bringing about the "eternal oblivion."

"Knew it. Where to next?"

"Why don't I change first?"

"Pish tosh, you're fine the way you are. Come on, where to next?"

"Why so eager Doctor?"

"Bored!"

"You just-"

"Bored!" He flung himself over the console to look at me.

"Fine, surprise me. I'm changing my shirt." I laughed at him. He started rushing around the TARDIS's console, pushing buttons and pulling levers. The familiar whirring and lurch of the TARDIS indicated we were already on the move. I rushed to the room the Doctor had set aside for me on my first day with him. It had a dresser filled with clothes, both human and alien, as well as a box filled with my journals. I made a note to write about the fire monster and alien cultists for later and pulled on my familiar Ravenclaw shirt. I looked in the mirror. It had been so long since I'd worn this... The TARDIS shifted suddenly, and I was thrown against the wall.

"Doctor!" I yelled out to him.

"Are you alright? Zoe?"

"Fine!" I called. "Doctor, what was that?" When the ship stabilized, I ran out into the central room.

"Not sure. She just took control. Don't know where we are. And the scanners aren't showing any readings." I looked at the screens. He had tried to explain all of their functions. I still didn't understand the TARDIS, but I did know enough to be aware that the TARDIS having radio silence was a very bad thing.

"Is she stuck?"

"TARDIS's navigation is shutting down. And her controls are locked."

"Open the door?" I suggested after some silence, watching him tinker away frantically. No way to know if it's safe until we stick our heads out.

"You sure? Not too exciting for you?"

"Oh shut it! Open the door." He smiled, and rushed to it, swinging them grandiosely. I walked up behind him and looked out to see the planet. It looked like Earth, if it had undergone one giant nuclear explosion.

"No, this isn't good. Not good at all."

"Doctor, are we on Earth again?" We hadn't been on Earth in quite some time. I stepped around him, placing my feet down on the charred earth.

"Zoe." He made for a grab, but I had already taken the step.

"It's safe."

"There could be radiation."

"Never stopped us before." I smiled back at him. We had landed in an empty field, but the remnants of a town could be seen a few yards ahead.

"What happened here?"

"Nothing good." He locked the TARDIS behind him. The moment he stepped away, the whirring resumed and the TARDIS began to dematerialize.

"No, no, no."

"Doctor!" I stared in disbelief. She'd never done this before.

"Get back here!" He yelled at the empty space where the blue phone box had been.

"This is not good. Not good at all."

"What was your first clue?" I pulled out the cellphone the Doctor had boosted for me. No signal. That had never happened either. Maybe all the radiation? And if that were the case, I probably, definitely, should not be out here.

"Doctor, no service." I gave him the cellphone.

"What is going on?" He took out the sonic screwdriver, waving it around before snapping it back to read the scan results.

"What is it Doctor?"

"Radiation. Nuclear warfare. But this shouldn't have happened. The time period is all off." The Doctor started walking away, and I followed as best as I could, his strides becoming longer and longer with each step.

"What time period is it?"

"Not the right one!" He huffed. Without the TARDIS, he rarely knew the time. 

"Doctor, where are you going?"

"Screwdriver is picking up humans."

"Survivors?"

"Hope so. Be nice, wouldn't it?" This happened from time to time. The Doctor would get this sad, lonely expression on his face, like he was being crushed. It only ever made me work harder to indulge him. I picked up the pace, falling in beside him. We reached the town in a few minutes. The little houses were falling apart and charred. Doors were open, hanging on hinges, and there was filth and trash everywhere. A hissing came from one of the crushed houses. My head whipped towards the sound and I tugged on his long coat, feeling suddenly like a small child.

"Doctor." I whispered. "There's someone in that house over there." The Doctor's screwdriver was aimed at the dark emptiness of the house. The screwdriver buzzed and resounded. The noise brought another loud hiss which became a growl that multiplied. Mutilated humans that were burnt and crippled crawled from the wreckage. Rags hung from their gaunt, thin bodies.

"So hungry."

"So tired."

"Stop the noise!" They all cried and wailed. They came closer and closer, their mangled, blackened hands reaching out towards the Doctor and me. I became nervous, but the Doctor remained composed. I shrunk back behind his large coat. 

"What happened here?"

"The clouds exploded."

"Fire rained from the sky."

"The machines came. They burned and killed."

"We lived. And then the heat came. The melting." Voices came from all around, continuing their story. One voice, steady and less strained, called out. We looked to him. The man was tall and as skinny as the rest. His mouth was stained red. He looked stronger than the others.

"War happened here. There was an invasion, from the stars. Countries turned on each other and launched nuclear bombs. Those that weren't vaporized dealt with the radiation fallout or were killed by the invaders. We are the last of the survivors here."

"How have you survived?" The Doctor pushed. I didn't like the situation. Something bad was going to happen. I knew it. The man gave off a creepy vibe. He was undoubtedly the leader of the group. How does he seem so well fed? He still seems to be intelligent too.

"We feed. We stuck together and hunted those who came by, without discretion. Visitors who weren't killed here had met a much worse fate in the city." His head turned to an even larger ruin to the east. I couldn't tell what it was, what anything was. It was all so different from when I lived on Earth.

"Visitors? You mean the invaders?"

"No. The visitors." Fear gripped me and a lump formed in my throat. They ate humans! The mutated humans began to converge around them. They didn't even seem human. They were animalistic. Their movements erratic. 

"It's been so long. We had to survive on just our own." The leader licked his lips.

"Doctor."

"Cover your ears."

"What?"

"Cover your ears." I did as he said. The Doctor pointed his screwdriver up above his head and a sonic screech burst out. The mutants tried to cover their ears from the sound. My own ears were hurting. The mutants couldn't move, and they collapsed on the ground, knocked out by the screwdriver's high frequency. The pain subsided, and I put my hands down, looking at the Doctor.

"Sonic blast." He explained.

"We need to go, Doctor."

"And I know where." He started walking east and I followed quick as I could, slipping over some rubble. I caught myself from the fall, hands slamming onto some of the jagged stone. I picked myself up, hoping the Doctor didn't notice. Klutzy as ever, I suppose. 

"We're going to the city? The one that those people were afraid of? The one that he said had a fate worse than being eaten alive?"

"Are they even people anymore?" The Doctor seemed disgusted.

"Of course they are! No matter what happens, they are still people and we should help them. That's what we've done all this time, right? Helped people?" He turned around, his face was hard as stone. But after a second, as he pondered my response, it softened. And then he smiled. 

"Quite right too. So off to the city to figure out what really happened here." And we continued. He did this too. Whenever I had a lapse of bravery, too afraid to continue, he always found a way to motivate me. Normally, his motivating me was more of me motivating him. For a man who cared so deeply for life, sometimes, it seemed like he stopped caring. I wonder if that's why he brought so many humans with him. To never forget. He was quite old after all. 

We were upon the ruins within ten, maybe fifteen minutes. There were tall skyscrapers that crumbled, stones falling every so often from the top. There were billboards on the ground, crushed lights and signs. Parts of the city seemed to be gone completely. Dark alleys were shrouded in dust and looked menacing. There was a sign that caught my eye. It was a burnt, ruined Phantom of the Opera marquee. I remember seeing it on Broadway. This was New York City.

"Doctor, I think we're in-"

"New York City, America."

"My family is probably..." I trailed off. I didn't want to think about it.

"Don't think too hard about it." But I did. I looked at the cellphone. Still no service. I couldn't call my mother to make sure she was still alive. Although, if I think about it, technically she is, in her own time period. In my time period too. I felt homesick.

"You're hand is bleeding." The Doctor said. I looked down at my hands. I knew I had cut them, but I hadn't realized how badly. He pulled off the black scarf he had hanging around his neck and wrapped it tight around my hand. It stung, but the bleeding subsided.

"Thanks."

"It's going to be okay. It's not the first time the TARDIS has run off. She'll be back. No doubt about it." He said optimistically. His eyes betrayed him though. They were distant and lonely again. A mad man and his box, without a box. A stone fell in the distance, startling the Doctor's companion. I turned around, the Doctor still walking. There was a stone angel, it's hands in front of its face, in the distance. It was in front of a decrepit building with several stone steps. It may have been a library. It was a creepy statue that sent shivers down my spine. I turned and tried to catch up with the Doctor.

I heard another sound, like scraping, and turned again. I squeaked in fear. The angel statue was closer, but in the same pose. I never did like statues. There was always something off about them. This one only made that fear more real.

"Doctor. Doctor, that statue. I could have sworn it wasn't there before. I think it moved." He whipped around to look where I was staring.

"Don't blink!" He exclaimed. He pointed the screwdriver at the angel, the red light shining. The statue seemed suddenly more stiff than before. I tried not to blink, but it was difficult. I tried blinking one eye at a time, a loophole.

"Back away slowly, and keep an eye on that statue."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Just do it." And I did it. He faced forward while I kept staring, trying not to blink, at the stone angel and walking backwards. It didn't move. Not even an inch. I didn't understand what was going on. But there was a twisting in my stomach and acid in my throat. Fear. 

"Now, run." I turned away from the angel, my hand in the Doctor's, and we ran. He pulled me with him. I remember the first time I had met the Doctor, when he told me to run, his hand wrapped around my own. I had been so terrified earlier, but the Doctor made me feel strong. I missed my home so much.

"You cannot escape." A robotic voice called. "The Doctor will be deleted." The Doctor suddenly stopped, frozen, shock on his face. I slammed into the Doctor, falling to the floor. I looked up at him. His face was going in all directions, looking for the source of the robotic voice. The angel was nowhere to be seen. A robotic man came out from the alley, and from the other side, a strange creature that looked like a trashcan with a plunger and whisk came out. It's eye stalk glowed as it repeated "exterminate."

"Doctor." I became more nervous as they were joined by two angel statues. Every time I blinked, they moved forward and changed from creepily beautiful to terrifyingly ferocious, their hands outstretched. A few other aliens and monsters that we had encountered also joined them.

"How? How are you all working together?"

"You didn't answer their call. The humans. You let them die just like you let the Time Lords die." An older woman walked out from the shadows, staying behind the Daleks. She held herself regally, her hair was gray and she was in a dark burgundy dress.

"Who are you?" The Doctor demanded.

"Don't you recognize me? Come not, can't you recognize your own kin? Grandfather." The words dripped. 

"Susan? Arkytior?" The Doctor had a granddaughter? That means he's not the only Time Lord left. There's two of them! There has to be more, right? He once said he had brought Gallifrey out of the time lock. Been among his people once more, only to have lost them a second time. Maybe they could find it again. Together! This should be a good thing. Shouldn't it?

"So you do remember. Remember, when you left me behind!"

"You wanted to stay behind."

"You never came back for me. You didn't even come to see me!"

"You wanted to be left alone." He pleaded.

"And alone I was. You didn't realize how precious a Time Lord's body was. And they had a young, innocent one within their grasp on Earth. I was sold from species to species. Experimented on, tortured. I was forced to regenerate eight times!" The old woman spat.

"I didn't know." The monsters surrounded the Doctor, ignoring the weak human companion.

"You've caused more suffering in this universe than you ever helped. You lead to the suffering of countless species and people. Just look at your old companions. Just look at the Earth! You left me alone, and I changed everything. This war, these ruins. This is what you do Grandfather."

"Susan, we can fix this."

"No, you can't. You can't stop me Grandfather. The TARDIS left you. She's gone!"

"I'm sorry." He used another sonic blast. My ears felt like they were going to burst and I could smell the metallic scent of blood. All the creatures, except for the Cybermen, were affected. The Doctor gripped my arm and pulled me away. He turned the sonic blast off and waved the screwdriver around frantically, not stopping once.

"What are you doing? Doctor?"

"Signaling the TARDIS. She can't have gone too far. She wouldn't leave us stranded like this."

"This way." I pulled him. I could hear the Cybermen's pounding feet as they pursued. We ran into one of the dark alleyways. I wasn't exhausted. Two years ago, I would have been dying, but I was used to running by now. Running came with the Doctor like fries came with a burger. You couldn't have one without the other.

"She was right." He said suddenly, breaking the silence. I looked at him. His eyes were distant. I had never seen his face like this. He's been happy, angry, lonely, sad. Heck, he's been so many ranges of emotions. But this was the first time that I could ever say that the Doctor looked scared. 

"Who was?"

"Susan, my granddaughter. She was right." 

"Doctor."

"No. She was. I've been running so long, I've never really gone to look back at the damage I left. The people I hurt. My race is gone, because of me, Zoe. I had a chance to save them again, and they're still out there, but still gone. I can't even bring them back." He sank to the floor. "If we survive this, you're going home. You have what you need. Journals of it. You don't need to stick around anymore."

"Shut up." He looked suddenly surprised at my sudden burst of anger. I always got cross with him, but that time, it was different.

"Excuse-"

"I said, shut up. There's no 'ifs' with you Doctor. We've been traveling for over a year now and we have been in a lot of tight pinches and have always survived. You're the Doctor. You can never do any good without some people being hurt. There's not a soul in this universe who thinks that there are no risks." I stopped and let that sink in. "I know what happened to Gallifrey Doctor. They're not gone. You didn't kill all those people. And you didn't kill this planet. That was your granddaughter and those monsters, whatever they are. And as for your companions, they knew the cost of traveling with you. I know the risk of traveling with you too. You can't get rid of me that easily Doctor. You promised me the stars, and I haven't seen all of them yet. Besides, six journals is just too little." I smiled, grabbing his hand and gripping it tight. My Doctor. A sad, lonely man who traveled the stars alone for so long. I didn't want him to ever be alone again. I'd show him what it means to have a friend. To have a family again. 

"Oh Zoe. Passionate, determined Zoe. When we first met, you were this timid thing. Everything scared you, remember?" I smiled. "You're right. That means I...we have to stop my granddaughter."

"What are those things with her?"

"Some of the nastiest things this universe has to offer. Weeping Angels, Daleks, Cybermen, Zarbi. So many. Come on, we need to find the TARDIS. We can't do much like this" He stood up, helping me next. It felt amazing to see his resolve strengthen. He whizzed his screwdriver around again, trying to signal the TARDIS back. The two hid every so often when the sound of footsteps and Daleks and Cybermen could be heard. No matter what they did, the TARDIS would not pick up the signal.

"Susan's keeping the TARDIS away from the planet, throwing off her signal. Calling her won't do much. She's probably popping up all over the universe." The Doctor explained. He still had hope though, otherwise he wouldn't continue doing it.

"Been wondering where you went Grandfather." Susan's voice called from the empty blackness of the decimated city. The Doctor shoved me behind him. Susan was alone. U tried to move in front of him, but his hand was tight on my arm. I never realized it, but was the Doctor always this strong?

"You don't need to do this." She stared at him.

"You look so young Grandfather. How can you seem so young after all the lives you have destroyed." She pulled out a laser gun. The Doctor followed suit, but with his harmless screwdriver. I knew that the screwdriver would not stand a chance against Susan's lethal weapon. I'm sure Susan knew too.

"You don't need to do this." He pointed the screwdriver at the laser gun.

"Do you know what it's like, Doctor? Do you know what it's like to be stolen from your life? Not run away, no. STOLEN. I had a family here. I was happy. And then that was stolen. I was in chains! I was tortured! And little by little, they stole bits of me. They used my time essence, --. Have you ever been milked before? HAVE YOU? So yes, grandfather. I really do need to do this. You need to understand what that felt like, --" I didn't recognize what she had called him. It was strange and alien, sounding different as they hit my ears. Was that the Doctor's name? She shot the gun before the Doctor even had a chance to break it. Once in his chest, a second in his first heart. He fell to the ground, and I tried to lift him to his feet.

"Doctor, Doctor please." He was so heavy.

"Move away from him girl. Don't be a fool. You don't have to die so soon." She teased out. I was dead either way. 

"Leave him alone!" I shouted back. His breath came in rasps. Susan aimed the gun at me and a whirring sound came from the Doctor.

"Then die, like all of his other worthless pets."

"Run." He whispered, pushing me away from him.

"Doctor!" And another familiar whirring sound was heard. Right when Susan pulled the trigger, the TARDIS materialized around me, saving me from the deadly laser. I ran to the door; I would not leave the Doctor to die. The TARDIS locked itself shut, refusing to open for me. I pounded against it, screaming and yelling to be released. I wouldn't leave him. He was the greatest friend I had ever made. I loved him! He opened my eyes and mind to the world around me, showing me things I could never have imagined. My company may have meant a lot to him, but it meant more to me than I would ever admit to him. And after all the times he saved my life, by G-d I was going to save his. I ran through the corridors of the TARDIS towards the library. 

The Doctor kept several artifacts there, including copies of his sonic screwdrivers. I grabbed them all. Alone, these screwdrivers were a tool meant to fix and help. Together, they should be able to save the doctor. I held the nine screwdrivers in my hands and ran back to the door, aiming them all at her.

"I'm not leaving him, so open up." I commanded, and turned the screwdrivers on. The whirring hurt my ears, but I gritted my teeth. I wasn't going to let the sonic shriek get to me. I was saving the Doctor, after all the times he saved me. It was my turn. The doors suddenly burst open. I turned them off and ran through. The Doctor was on the floor, surrounded by those monsters, and by Susan, her gun pointed at the Doctor. Her laugh terrible. 

"Leave him alone!" I pointed the sonic screwdrivers at them.

"What are you going to do with those? Huh, can you even work those? Stupid little human." She laughed again. 

"I may be human, and I may not know much about Gallifreyan technology. But I do know a bit about overworking a machine. I'm sure there's a similar principle." I wasn;t stupid. I turned each of the switches on, rapidly, their tone getting higher and higher. 

"Stop. Jordan, turn them off!" He cried, weakened. I wasn't stupid. I knew that the screwdrivers were overloading. At this point, they were like a bomb. They weren't just copies. They were the Doctor's screwdrivers. They were his past screwdrivers.

"Stop this now! You'll blow yourself up too!" Susan cried. I wasn't stupid. I took the Doctor's scarf out of my pocket, wrapping them around the screwdrivers, keeping them on. I walked towards the mass of the Doctor's enemies, slowly, trying to keep the screwdrivers from breaking apart. It was like holding magnets trying to repel from each other. 

"Humans are not stupid, Susan. You should have realized that, if you lived with us. The Doctor is my precious friend. He protects us. And I'm going to protect him. I'll show you, I'm not as stupid as you think." I yelled as I continued my slow walk. 

"Back. Get back!" Susan yelled. They did as commanded. All except for the Daleks.

"We are not afraid of a human." One informed, moving closer to me. I didn't stop my approach.

"I commanded you to move back!" Susan yelled again.

"Daleks do not take orders from Time Lords." It turned to Susan. I stopped moving.

"You will do as I tell you."

"We will not. We have the Doctor and now all Time Lords will be exterminated!"

"Don't!" The Doctor cried. The Dalek sent a burst out of the whisk shaped handle and Susan lit up in a blue light before collapsing on the floor. Dead. Yellow sand seemed to form around her hands, face, and legs. The Dalek shot her again and the sand stopped. It was like the whole world stopped ticking. Everything froze. The Doctor just stared at the body on the floor. I had to think quick. I threw the screwdrivers in the mass of monsters, running to the Doctor to help him, and grabbed the sonic gun from Susan's corpse. i could hear the sonic ringing getting more high pitched.

"Leave the Doctor, and you will be spared." One of the Daleks called to me. 

"I don't take orders from Daleks." I aimed the laser gun at the screwdrivers and on cue, the screwdrivers started to go off. A sonic blast blew around, my ears hurt, my eyes hurt, my head hurt. I had to get the Doctor to safety. I pulled him along, making my way towards the TARDIS. The other monsters, who were closest to the screwdriver bomb I had created, were distracted with trying to flee. We made it. The TARDIS shook as the screwdrivers exploded from the temporal something or other. Time travel still made me nauseous. He collapsed to the floor.

"Doctor."

"I'm fine. We have to fix this. We have to fix the past to save this future." He struggled to his feet, refusing my help, and made his way to the TARDIS's center console, pushing buttons and pulling levers. The TARDIS lurched again as it fell through time and space.

"Where are we going?"

"To help Susan where I last saw her. She was right, it's time I stop running and see my past." I nodded at him.

"But what about fix points and all that?"

"Not this one. She wouldn't be a fixed point in Earth's history. I can change this one." He gasped. His voice sounded even deeper than usual. 

"How can I help?" He smiled at me, weakly.

"You could help me save my granddaughter." The TARDIS landed. The Doctor handed me his screwdriver. "I'm too weak to leave the TARDIS. She'll be getting kidnapped right about now. Send her to UNIT. They'll keep her safe."

"Got it." I walked out of the TARDIS. He was right on time. The second I stepped out, I saw Susan being pulled into an alley by a couple of Garchans, alien bounty hunters. I ran after her into the alley. They were about to signal their ship when I stopped them.

"Let her go." I commanded in my most angry Doctor voice.

"Who are you?" The commanded, pointing their guns at me.

"Oh really. Put those down before you hurt yourself." I turned the screwdriver on and the guns short-circuited. "Now gentleman. I am your worse nightmare. I am the Great Exterminator, the Bringer of Darkness, the Oncoming Storm. I am the Doctor and I am telling you to let her go." That gave me chills of my own. The Garchans hesitated, staring at the Doctor's sonic screwdriver in my hand. The threw Susan forward and ran away. That should show them.Susan looked up at me.

"Grandfather? How? You were just here a few months ago." Her eyes lit up. 

"Listen to me. You're in danger. Go to London, find UNIT, tell them you are the Doctor's granddaughter. They will keep you safe."

"Your not?"

"He loves you very much, Arkytior." I responded quickly. 

"You know my..." She stared at me, dumbfounded.

"Yes. Now, take your husband and run. He couldn't be here. I'm sorry Susan."

"Thank you. Tell my grandfather I love him."

"Of course." I smiled and gripped her hand.

"Now go. I bought you some time with that routine, but they won't give up." She nodded her head and ran off. I followed her and smiled. She was staring at the TARDIS's open door where the Doctor stood, hiding the pain of his dying body. He waved at her, and she waved at him. Susan ran off in the other direction and I walked to the TARDIS. I helped the Doctor back in, closing the door behind me. He shed the strong stance immediately as he drove the TARDIS again.

"Doctor, you need to rest."

"Not yet. I have one last thing I need to do."

"Doctor, you can do it after your regeneration." I had read a lot on the man, I knew about his regenerations long before he had a chance to tell me.

"Not yet. I'm not leaving yet." The TARDIS lurched one last time.

"Go and see." He said when we landed. I shook my head at him, like indulging a small child, and did as I was asked. I opened the door.

"No." It was my apartment building, back in Orlando. Why did he take me here? I turned to him.

"Doctor?" He was in front of me. He pushed me backwards and I stumbled out of the TARDIS and fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry Zoe, but this is goodbye."

"No Doctor, it's not!" I got up. He put his hand out. I stopped. Tears flowed down my face.

"I made you a promise. You were going to be safe. That was my promise to you. You'll get your journals. Your stories. But you will also get your safety and your life." Yellow sand flowed out of his face, his hands, his feet. He was regenerating. I tried to get back on the TARDIS, but the blast of yellow sand threw me backwards. As the TARDIS doors closed, a new face stared at me. A sadder, older face than before. My Doctor was gone. The TARDIS left.

I never said goodbye to the Doctor, even if he said goodbye to me. I said I was never going to leave him, and I meant it more than anything else. That moment crushed me. When I had gotten back to my apartment, there was a box in the middle of my living room. My journals, souvenirs, clothes he had bought me. They were all there. He had done it to keep me safe, but there was no way I could ever go back to being safe. How could anyone go from the most exciting adventure in their life to normal, boring life? I loved that man. That Time Lord. He was my best friend and one way or another, I was going to continue to help him.

I packed my things, called my mother, took out my savings, and bought a ticket for a plane to London. I was going to UNIT. I was going to continue to help save the world. And that's what I did. And that's where I am now. That's what I'm doing now. And one day, I will see the Doctor. Even if it's a hundred years from now, I will wait until the day I die. He said he was done running from his past. To me, that was another promise. He would come back. Even if he wouldn't take me to see the stars again, I was going to see the Doctor.


End file.
